UK & World News

Depardieu Accused Over 'Road Rage' Row

French actor Gerard Depardieu is facing a legal complaint for assault and battery over an alleged "road rage" incident, according to prosecutors.

A 63-year-old motorist is said to be claiming the star hit him during a row that started after Depardieu's scooter and the man's car collided in Paris, Reuters news agency has reported.

Depardieu is one of France's best known actors, with more than 100 films under his belt, including Cyrano de Bergerac and the Asterix series, but he has increasingly made headlines for the wrong reasons.

"There was a confrontation and the driver filed a complaint," an official from the prosecutor's office said, adding that the incident had taken place on Wednesday in the centre of the French capital.

The actor's agent was not immediately available for comment.

Depardieu last year outraged fellow passengers by urinating in the aisle of an Air France flight as it prepared to take off, forcing the plane to turn back to the departure gate.

A passenger on the flight said Depardieu, the star of movies such as Jean de Florette and Green Card, appeared to be drunk and insisted he be allowed to use the bathroom during takeoff, when passengers must remain seated.

Fellow actor Edouard Baer, who was travelling with the film star on the flight from Paris to Dublin, said Depardieu had tried to urinate in a water bottle when denied access to the toilet by a hostess.

Depardieu said he had offered to clean up after himself but he was banned from boarding the plane again after staff spent two hours dealing with the mess.

He later told CNN: "I'm not a monster. I'm just a man who wants to pee."